Senegal seeks investors to advance Yakaar-Teranga gas development

Senegal’s state-owned oil company Petrosen is seeking investment partners for the Yakaar-Teranga offshore gas project, targeting a final investment decision (FID) by the end of 2027, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) said in a media release.

Mouhamadou Diop, chief executive of Petrosen Trading & Services, outlined the timeline at African Energy Week 2026 in Cape Town last week. The project is central to Senegal’s plans to expand domestic gas supplies, support power generation and develop gas-intensive industries.

“Yakaar-Teranga has the potential to be truly transformative for Senegal. The main question surrounding the project is economic competitiveness and sovereignty,” Diop was quoted by the AEC as saying.

Located in the Cayar Offshore Profond block north of Dakar, the Yakaar-Teranga discoveries hold an estimated 25 trillion cubic feet (tcf), equivalent to about 707.9bn cubic metres (bcm), of gas in place, according to US independent oil and gas exploration and production company Kosmos Energy (NYSE/LSE: KOS). Under an agreement with the Senegalese government, Kosmos Energy formally withdrew from the project in April 2026, leaving Petrosen with full control of the licence.

“Deep offshore projects are complex and require a lot of capital,” Diop said. “Therefore, the government of Senegal has made it a national priority to make the country more attractive to investment in order for us to fully maximize the true potential of our offshore resources.”

The proposed first phase requires about $2.5bn and targets production of 150mn–300mn cubic feet (mmcf) per day, or about 4.25mn–8.50mn cubic metres (mcm) per day. A second phase, estimated to cost $5bn, would support downstream industries, including fertiliser manufacturing and petrochemicals. The development concept prioritises domestic gas supply, while an earlier plan also envisaged exports.

Dominique Gadelle, vice-president for front-end, markets and solutions at Technip Energies (Euronext Paris: TE), noted that commercial agreements would be important to advancing the project. “We need commercial and contractual arrangements before reaching FID,” Gadelle said. “We are seeing positive signs and are very optimistic about the future of the MSGBC basin.”

Senegal’s government has identified domestic gas development as a priority to reduce reliance on imported fuels and support power generation and industry. State control gives Senegal greater influence over how the resource is developed, but meeting the FID target will depend on credible financing, commercial viability and an executable project design, says NewsBase Horizon, a dedicated advisory division of NewsBase.